American Education 

and 

American Citizenship 



An address delivered before the Associated Alumni 
of the University of Rochester by 



WILLIAM CAREY MOREY, D. C. I. 



JUNE 13, 1910 



American Education and Ameri- 
can Citizenship 



ORATION BEFORE THE ALUMNI 

by 

WILLIAM CAREY MOREY, D.C.L. 

Watson Professor of Political Science 

There was a time during the civil war when for lack of 
volunteers, it became necessary for the government to draft 
men into the service of the country. As I happened to be 
a volunteer at that time, I was never able to enter fully 
into the consciousness of the man who- was drawn into the 
service against his own will. But I have sometimes thought 
that if such an one should ever fail in the performance 
of his duty, he might perhaps console himself with the re- 
flection that not he, but the government, should be held 
responsible for his failure. I feel myself tonight somewhat 
in the position of a drafted man ; for the invitation of your 
committee was so pressing, not to say imperative, that I 
regarded it as a sort of command which could not be ig- 
nored. And so if my effort should not be deemed high- 
ly successful, I shall try to console myself with the belief 
that your committee should be held liable for my short- 
coming. It is but just to myself to say further that your 
committee not only drafted me into the service, but also 
suggested the subject upon which I was to speak. If they 
had only gone a step farther and assumed the pleasant duty 
of preparing my discourse, and also of appointing one of 
their number to deliver it, I should have enjoyed the bliss- 

1 



fill satisfaction of total irresponsibility. But while I am 
quite willing to throw upon them all the responsibility 
which is justly their due, I should be very loth to have them 
take from me the sense of honor that I feel in being chosen 
to speak to you on this occasion. When I realize that the 
large majority of you are those whom I have already met 
in the class-room, that the greater part of my life has been 
spent with some of you, that my best thoughts have been 
inspired by your presence, that you are the friends whose 
respect and affection I most cherish, I am inclined to thank 
your seemingly imperious committee for giving me the op- 
portunity to speak to you once more as your teacher — and 
perhaps still as your counsellor. 

There is something inspiring to the teacher who is be- 
ginning to feel however lightly the weight of years, to see 
those who have been his pupils actively engaged in the 
practical affairs of life, to see them taking an honorable and 
influential position among their fellows and reaping the 
merited rewards of faithful service. It is only through the 
character and work of his pupils that the teacher can hope 
to attain success. He himself is one whose place is, for the 
most part, behind the scenes ; while it is their function to 
play the active parts upon the stage of life. But though 
unseen, he is yet a sharer of their successes, and hears with 
equal satisfaction the applause which they receive from the 
world. Though remaining in the professorial chair, he fol- 
lows them anxiously in the paths they have chosen ; he suf- 
fers when they fail, and rejoices when they succeed ; and 
he often wonders whether the standard which they attained 
in the class-room will be maintained in the larger sphere of 
industrial and professional life. But his greatest anxiety 
is to know, when they have gone forth into the world, wheth- 
er they will yield to the temptations which often beset men 
of power and influence; or whether, on the other hand, 

2 



'S<M': 



they will fulfill the high duties which rest upon them as 
educated men, — whether they will rise above the selfish 
instincts of human nature and become beneficent members 
of society and the state. The honor of a university rests 
upon the honorable work of those whom it has once fostered. 
The greatest achievement of any institution of learning is 
to make of a man a valuable asset to society; and it has 
been well said that "a. man's value is measured in terms of 
service to his fellow men." It is with a sense of pride that 
I join with my colleagues to-night in congratulating you 
upon the records you have made, and are still making in 
the cause of truth and humanity. No words of mine can 
express the debt which we owe to you. Your lives are our 
richest possession; and we shall ever claim the right to 
point to you as worthy citizens of our great Republic, and 
as an evidence that the work of our University has not been 
in vain. 

The subject which has been suggested to me as a suit- 
able theme for this hour's discussion is, American Educa- 
tion and American Citizenship. But as I was not told exact- 
ly how this subject should be treated, it is possible that I 
may not discuss it precisely in the way it was expected. To 
give some unity, however, to what I have to say I have 
selected as a sort of text, or perhaps rather the goal which 
I wish to keep in view, these words of Baron von Hum- 
boldt: "Whatever we wish to see introduced into the life 
of a nation must first be introduced into its schools." The 
distinguished author of this proposition no doubt meant by 
"schools" all educational institutions, whether higher or 
lower; and would hence have us believe that a nation's 
growth and a nation's character depend to a large extent 
upon the kind of education it gives to its citizens. 

This word "education," which we so often use and which 
is made the subject of many learned discussions, is indeed 

3 



a word of extensive and perhaps ambiguous meaning. It 
may refer to the simple training of a child in correct deport- 
ment, in habits of obedience, and in the primary use of its 
faculties. It may refer to the technical instruction which 
is given to an apprentice to prepare him to do the work 
of a skilled mechanic. It may refer to the various means 
which are employed to develop in one the ability to do the 
professional work of an architect, a lawyer, a teacher, a 
physician, a clergyman, or a diplomat. Or it may refer, 
in a still broader way, to the general acquisition of knowl- 
edge and discipline of mind whereby one may enter intel- 
ligently upon any field of human activity. But however 
we may define it and whatever may be its special phases, it 
seems quite evident that all education is but a means to 
an end, and that that end has some bearing upon human life. 
And it also seems quite clear that the value and efficiency 
of education depend upon the extent to which it is adjusted 
and adapted to its purpose, the final result which it seeks 
to accomplish. If we lose sight of its ultimate purpose, 
its telic principle, all our pedagogical theories will soon 
become "stale and unprofitable ;" and our elaborate systems 
and petty details of method will soon descend to the level 
of perfunctory routine and fruitless effort. The undue 
emphasis which is sometimes laid upon uniform and stereo- 
typed methods of instruction, upon dogmatic rules of pro- 
cedure, with little reference to their ultimate bearing upon 
life, tend to make of the school a mere mechanism, and of 
the teacher a mere automaton. We should, therefore, aban- 
don the idea that a blind conformity to some prescribed 
and rigid set of methods, has in itself any special educa- 
tional value. Methods may or may not be valuable. Their 
value depends upon their relative efficiency in attaining 
the end to be accomplished. 

A far greater question then than that concerning educa- 

4 



tional methods and processes, is that concerning educational 
aims and purposes. It may be conceded that these aims and 
purposes should have some relation to human life. But 
there may not be an entire concurrence of opinion as to 
what are the special needs of human life for which the 
schools may afford a preparation. The views that are most 
generally held as to the relation of education to life, may per- 
haps be reduced to two general theories, which may be called 
the ''vocational" and the "cultural" theory. The first, or 
the vocational, theory holds that the end of education should 
be the preparation of every person for the special work in 
life which he is destined to pursue. The second, or cultural, 
theory holds that the purpose of education should be to 
broaden the intellect by the acquisition of knowledge, and 
to discipline the mind by systematic habits of thought, and 
thus to fit a person for any sphere of life — in other words, 
to develop a symmetrical and efficient manhood. It would 
lead me too far from my main purpose to discuss these 
apparently opposing theories. But the mere mention of 
them is sufficient to show that, however antagonistic they 
may appear, they both have in view the fact that every per- 
son has some function to perform, some duties to fulfill, 
as a living human being. 

It may not be out of place, however, for me to say in 
passing that perhaps a more comprehensive theory than 
either of those mentioned, is that which would combine the 
best features of them both. Is it not possible for an educa- 
tion to be based primarily upon the "cultural" idea, and yet 
not to lose sight of the "vocational" purposes of the in- 
dividual ? It is probably true that every one, or nearly every 
one, of the so-called cultural studies furnishes the prin- 
ciples upon which some vocation is based. For example, 
the one who has chosen medicine for his calling may find 
the principles which underlie his practice in the study of 

5 



biology, of physiology and of chemistry. He who desires to 
become a teacher may learn from philosophy, from psychol- 
ogy, and from logic, the laws which govern the operations 
and development of the human mind. And the lawyer may 
find an important aid in his professional life from the study 
of history and general jurisprudence. Indeed, it may be 
questioned whether any science is completely taught until 
not only its general principles, but its applications and bene- 
ficial relations to human life, are made intelligible. On this 
account applied science may become a legitimate part of a 
liberal education ; and I am happy to say that this idea is al- 
ready becoming a feature of the University of Rochester. 
As a tangible evidence of the progress of this idea, I point 
to the new building now in the process of erection upon our 
campus, for which we are largely indebted to the personal 
interest and zeal of him who is this year president of our 
Associated Alumni. And I may also be permitted to say 
that for the introduction of this larger and more compre- 
hensive theory, which recognizes the close relation between 
culture and vocation, we are glad to acknowledge our in- 
debtedness to him who now occupies and fills the presidential 
chair of our University. 

The statements I have already made are intended simply 
to emphasize what perhaps may need no special emphasis — 
that education cannot, in any proper sense, be regarded as 
an end in itself, but that its value and efficiency depend up- 
on an appreciation of the dignity and demands of human 
life. But may it not be pertinent to go a step farther and 
ask. What is that conception of life which should be kept 
in view in our educational systems? What, in short, is the 
real significance of human life — what is life for? One of 
the greatest achievements of modern science is generally 
conceded to be the discovery of the law of evolution. One 
of the factors of this law relates to the theory of life — 

6 



wherein life is regarded as a universal struggle for exist- 
ence. As this theory is generally interpreted, those individ- 
uals which are best fitted by virtue of superior strength or 
intelligence, survive; while the weak and less intelligent go 
to the wall. Life is looked upon as a battle for survivor- 
ship and supremacy. And this is supposed to apply not 
only to the lower animals, but to man as well ; and is often 
emphasized as a stimulant to education. Success in life 
is looked upon as a victory in the battle of life. To achieve 
success one must possess the power and the intelligence 
necessary to triumph over others. If he has not received 
by nature the requisite amount of strength and skill, he 
must cultivate and develop it by artificial means. In this 
way he may obtain an advantage in the inevitable struggle ; 
in this way he may acquire personal power and supremacy, 
and thus reduce others to a relative condition of subordina- 
tion. It is by his superior knowledge and mental discipline 
obtained by education, that he may acquire those qualities 
which will enable him to outwit his fellow men, and will 
ensure his preeminence in the world and hence his success 
in life. This is the egoistic theory of life and education— 
a theory which is based upon the hypothesis that the life 
of man, like the life of the brute, is a competitive struggle 
for existence and individual supremacy. So far as this 
theory is accepted and adopted as a principle of action, it 
begets the spirit of self-aggrandizement, of personal ambi- 
tion, of excessive individualism, of antagonism of man 
against man. It ignores the social instincts of human na- 
ture, and enthrones selfishness as the ruling principle of 
human conduct. It perverts and poisons the spirit of in- 
dustrial enterprise, and leads to the exploitation of the 
weak by the strong. It infects and corrupts the political 
life of the nation, by debasing its legitimate institutions 
for the advancement of selfish ends — making of the ballot 



an instrument of bribery, of parties the means of acquiring 
personal power and mastery, and of our legislative halls a 
field for individual and corporate plunder. 

But some one may say, However much you may deplore 
these results, do not the facts of life really justify this 
theory of life ? Is it not true, as a mere matter of observa- 
tion, that wherever we see human life we there see con- 
flict? Does not the history of the world in fact afford a 
record of such conflicts and struggles ? Yes, this is no doubt 
perfectly true. It is no doubt true that the history of hu- 
man society affords innumerable examples of this struggle 
of man against man — brother against brother, family 
against family, class against class, creed against creed, and 
nation against nation. It is no doubt true that human self- 
ishness has been, as a matter of fact, a powerful incentive 
in determining human relations and human actions. But 
who will have the presumption to claim that selfishness has 
been the only or the highest motive in human life? It is 
a very superficial analysis of human history that finds in 
its records nothing but wars and rumors of war. No one 
is more thoroughly convinced than the student of history 
that the progress of the world has been a gradual triumph 
of the social over the selfish instincts of men — that altruism 
rather than egoism has been the most decisive incentive in 
the promotion of human welfare and in the uplifting of the 
race. The consciousness of common interests, the willing- 
ness to give mutual support, the growing sense of brother- 
hood — these are evidences that in the higher stages of hu- 
man life men regard themselves as members one of another, 
that they are born to help and not to antagonize one another. 
Every step in the expansion of society, every advance in 
the growth of a higher political organization is prompted, 
for the most part, by the social instincts of men and not by 
their selfish propensities. If we are then called upon to ap- 

8 



peal to the facts of life in order to justify a theory of life, 
we may be obliged to modify the meaning which is some- 
times attached to the "struggle for existence." While hu- 
man life may no doubt be looked upon as a struggle, it is 
not, in the highest sense, a competitive struggle of man 
against man, but a cooperative struggle of men united with 
men to promote the highest good of all — a common warfare 
against all the destructive forces which tend to impede hu- 
man progress and to diminish human welfare. We may 
thus see that the great practical end of life is not supremacy 
but service. We may thus see that man has a collective as 
well as an individual life, that all that is highest and most 
enduring in his nature can be seen only when he is regarded 
as a fraction of that great integer Humanity. 

This then is the conception of life which we should keep 
in view when we are preparing for the duties of life and 
the responsibilities of citizenship — not that it is a struggle 
against our fellow men that we may win a triumph by 
their defeat — not a disregard of the rights of others that we 
may achieve success — not the extortion of the wealth and 
the labor of others that we may obtain large possessions — 
not the perversion of the laws and institutions of our country 
that we may obtain power and preeminence. The life of a 
nation is the life of its citizens. The body cannot be more 
healthy than its members. If we would see our nation 
united and strong, we must cultivate in ourselves the spirit 
of fraternity, and not of enmity — the conviction that we all 
constitute one body with common interests, with a common 
welfare and a common destiny. If we would see our na- 
tion the embodiment of justice and honor, justice and honor 
must first be incarnated in the life of the people. If we 
would see our country saved from the perils incident to 
democrary, we must guard with jealousy the principles of 
justice and equal rights, and keep pure and sensitive the 
popular conscience, and unfettered and free the expression 

9 



of the popular will. The higher altruistic conception which 
we have attached to human life in general, must also be ap- 
plied to the life of the nation, and must in fact determine 
the conditions of good citizenship. It must, therefore, be- 
come a factor in the making of good citizens and hence an 
element in our systems of education. That a national sys- 
tem of education may possess its highest efficiency, it must 
not be based upon the idea that it is the cultivation of the 
individual solely for the sake of the individual, but that it 
is the development of manhood for the sake of mankind — 
that every accession of power and intelligence which one 
may acquire belongs, in some degree, to his fellow men — 
to the state and the nation of which he is a part. 

It is no doubt less difficult to formulate a general prin- 
ciple like that which we have tried to express, than to apply 
it to actual conditions and needs. But a general principle, 
however comprehensive or true, can have little educational 
value unless it can be utilized and applied to educational 
methods. We may admit that, in theory, all education 
should have some bearing upon life, that the highest con- 
ception of life must have reference not simply to the bene- 
fit of the individual but to the promotion of the common 
weal, and also that this altruistic conception of life is the 
basis and condition of good citizenship. But it is proper 
to ask, as a practical question. How can this higher concep- 
tion of life which should enter into the making of good citi- 
zens, be introduced as an effective element in our educa- 
tional system ? How, for example, can the student of mathe- 
matics, of physics, of astronomy, of geology, of biology, of 
literature and of history be imbued with the idea that these 
studies have any relation to human interests, or have any 
bearing upon the community in which he lives, or upon the 
nation of which he is a part. He is too often led to believe 
that the pursuit of any branch of science or department of 

10 



literature or period of history, is mainly to add to his gen- 
eral knowledge, to his storehouse of accumulated facts. 
But is it not possible for him to be made to realize that every 
study in an academic curriculum has some relation to human 
interests? It is often supposed that history or literature 
affords the only means which may be used to stimulate the 
social instincts and to awaken an interest in human affairs. 
But the study of every science affords a similar means. Ev- 
ery progressive step in the development of science marks a 
stage in the progressive development of mankind, and hence 
has an important bearing upon human life. It cannot be de- 
nied, for example, that biology has been a powerful agency 
in the amelioration of the race, by revealing the laws of life 
and health, and by giving men a greater control over pes- 
tilences and diseases in general. Geology has been utilized 
by revealing the mineral products of the earth, and increas- 
ing the economic resources of man. Astronomy has bene- 
fited mankind, by teaching the laws of the universe and ban- 
ishing superstition from the minds of men. The laws of 
physics, of mechanics, and of chemistry have been used as 
levers by which human existence has been raised to a high- 
er plane. Even a mathematical formula, however abstract 
it may appear in its bare statement, may be shown to have 
had, either directly or indirectly, a practical utility in the 
solution of problems which have some relation to human 
welfare. And so every academic study may be given a 
higher educational significance if viewed in its relation to 
man's individual and social well-being. If measured by the 
standard of educational efficiency, the value of an academic 
curriculum is due not so much to the amount of information 
it imparts as to the degree of intelligence it develops — not 
so much to the acquisition of knowledge as to the gaining 
of wisdom — not so much to the massing of facts for the 
edification of the individual, as to the mastery of those prin- 

11 



ciples which have some relation to the well-being of man- 
kind. 

But it is not merely the human significance which may be 
attached to the various studies of an academic curriculum 
that I wish especially to emphasize, but the importance of 
maintaining those high ideals of American life which should 
form the distinctive features of American citizenship. And 
I believe that these ideals, if properly interpreted, will be 
found to be in harmony with that higher altruistic concep- 
tion of life which we have already considered. The true 
ideals of a nation are the incentives which have stimulated 
its development and determined its place and influence in 
the world's progress. Every great people which holds a 
place in human history must be estimated by its mission — 
by its contributions to the progress of the world. If it has 
had no mission in the world, if it has contributed nothing to 
human progress, it is worthy only to be forgotten. But no 
lapse of time, no debris of the centuries, can erase from the 
memory of men the name of that people which has contrib- 
uted something toward raising mankind from a lower to a 
higher plane of existence. The traveler looks with sorrow- 
ful eyes upon the broken columns of the Parthenon, but the 
ideals which inspired the art of Phidias, the plays of Soph- 
ocles, the philosophy of Plato, are still motives in the in- 
tellectual life of today. That which made Rome great is not 
seen in the crumbling walls of the Colosseum or in the de- 
nuded pavements of the Forum, but in the ideas of law and 
civil justice which have become an enduring factor in the 
world's jurisprudence. We remember Italy for the new 
birth which she gave to Europe; Spain and Portugal for 
the new world which they gave to the old ; Germany for 
the revolt against mediaeval superstition and ecclesiastical 
tyranny; France for intellectual enlightenment; and Eng- 
land for her contributions to modern constitutional and rep- 
resentative government. 

12 



Is it possible that America alone has had no mission to 
perform, has made no contributions to the world's advance- 
ment, has no worthy ideals of social and political life to in- 
spire the minds of her people ? In the restless activity of 
the present day and the mental distractions which attend 
commercial enterprise, we may have lost sight of the primi- 
tive and essential motives which have inspired the formation 
and development of our Republic; and hence do not fully 
appreciate those ideals of our national life which have fur- 
nished the incentive to all that is most exalted in the Amer- 
ican character. It has been said by a recent English writer 
that the American people have come to form a new race. 
However the professed ethnologist might dissent from this 
conclusion, it is yet certain that the American people occupy 
a peculiar and distinctive position among the nations of the 
world. If they, indeed, hold such a unique position as to 
entitle them to be called a new race, or a new people in any 
sense, it is due not so much to their ethnic amalgamation, 
as to certain ideas which have distinguished them in the 
past, and which must be maintained to distinguish them in 
the future. These ideas have been, in fact, new contribu- 
tions to the modern world. They distinguish the American 
character and the American system ; they have formed the 
most powerful incentives to our country's growth ; they have 
also furnished an inspiration to other peoples, and have in- 
fluenced the political progress of nearly every other nation ; 
and they should still be cherished as the stimulating ideals 
of our American life, and guarded and maintained by every 
American citizen. 

We need hardly to be reminded that the modern world is 
indebted first of all to the American republic for the realiza- 
tion of the idea of democracy. When our Pilgrim fathers 
landed on the barren coast of New England, Europe was a 
congeries of monarchial states. The ideas of equal rights 

13 



and political liberty which had floated before the minds of 
advanced thinkers, became the ideals of the American peo- 
ple. In the process of time these ideals became wrought in- 
to a new political system, of which we are alike the heirs 
and the guardians. This system has withstood the test of 
years, and we are now living to enjoy its blessings. But do 
we fully realize all that is involved in a democratic state? 
Do we realize that a true democracy is based upon the al- 
truistic conception of life — that the interests of one are the 
interests of all ? Democracy is the name for equal rights, 
equal obligations and equal opportunities. It does not exalt 
the few at the expense of the many. It calls for fair play 
and honest dealing. It is based upon justice between man 
and man, and not upon a competitive struggle for exist- 
ence and supremacy. It offers no encouragement to that 
extreme and excessive individualism which ignores the 
interests of the community and the well-being of society at 
. large. 

But we should also notice, on the other hand, that democ- 
racy as a social and political system does not underestimate 
the true value of the individual man. It would protect the 
individual not only against the encroachment of other men, 
but also against an undue interference on the part of the 
government. It assumes that the state is an organized body 
of individuals, with common needs and interests ; it also 
assumes that every man is a constituent and integral mem- 
ber of society, with personal rights as well as social duties. 
It therefore recognizes as coordinate the two functions of 
government — the one to protect the personal rights of the 
individual, the other to provide for the general welfare of 
society — and demands that neither shall be sacrificed at the 
expense of the other. I believe, therefore, that to maintain 
the true spirit of our American democracy we should guard 
against the extremes both of excessive individualism, on 

14 



the one hand, and of unqualified sociaHsm, on the other; 
and should recognize the correlative importance of individ- 
ual and social interests. In order to maintain the altruistic 
spirit of democracy it is not necessary to ignore the dignity 
and the inalienable rights of the individual man. In fact, 
it is the man who has the highest respect for himself and 
the clearest consciousness of his own rights, that can have 
the sincerest respect for others, and the most intelligent 
estimate of the rights of his fellows. The disposition to 
grant to other men all that we claim for ourselves, is the 
true spirit of altruism and the real basis of democratic jus- 
tice. 

It is the failure to recognize this perfect correlation of 
rights and duties, that engenders social, political and in- 
dustrial strife, and promotes that dangerous antagonism of 
interests which imperils our democratic system. It is this 
selfish scramble for supremacy, this passion to triumph even 
by trampling upon the rights and interests of others, that 
tends to destroy the universal sense of justice, and to put 
a premium upon adroitness and deceit and the unprincipled 
arts of the trickster. We cannot overestimate the import- 
ance of intelligence in a democratic state ; but if intelligence 
be not tempered with justice, or the disposition to render 
to every one his due, it may prove to be a dangerous posses- 
sion. Believe me when I say that the perils of our democ- 
racy are due not so much to the ignorance of the masses, 
as to the unscrupulous methods of those who use their 
superior power and skill to deceive and manipulate the 
masses for their own selfish ends. We should be thorough- 
ly convinced that the security of our Republic rests not only 
upon the intelligence of the masses of the people, but upon 
the unperverted conscience of every citizen. It has been 
well said that the distinguishing characteristic of the Amer- 
ican Republic is the embodiment of the spirit of faith in 

15 



man, hope for man, and good will toward man. It is, in- 
deed, this spirit of faith and hope and good will, this high 
estimate which should be placed upon the dignity and the 
rights of man, both in his individual and in his collective 
life, that should be cherished as one of the high ideals of 
American citizenship, and should be exalted as a ruling prin- 
ciple in the minds of those who are preparing to assume, in 
full measure, its inestimable rights and responsible duties. 

Closely allied to the idea of democracy as a contribu- 
tion of America to the modern world, is the idea of relig- 
ious liberty — or the right of a man to think and to worship 
as his own conscience may dictate. I have often thought 
that the most pitiful chapters in human history are those 
that record the conflict of creeds — the struggle of man 
against man for the supremacy of the faith of some, by the 
destruction of the faith of others. We in our day can have 
little conception of the horrors of that sanguinary and in- 
human conflict. We are so fortunate as not to be able to 
realize the agony of a tortured soul, compelled to surren- 
der a sacred belief or to face the terror of a martyr's doom. 
We shrink from the pages that recount the cruel deeds of 
the elder Simon de Montfort in the Albigensian crusade, 
and the despicable policy of Philip II in his efforts to stran- 
gle the religion of the Netherlands. In that age of political 
and ecclesiastical tyranny we behold not only the intolerance 
of sects, but the unholy alliance of Church and State. We 
witness the fact that it was the despotic governments of 
Europe that became the most powerful instruments of re- 
ligious oppression and persecution. 

We are now happily living in another age ; and we should 
remember that it was the land that gave birth to the spirit 
of political liberty that also nourished the spirit of relig- 
ious freedom. With all due credit to "brave little Holland" 
for opening her doors to the religious refugees from France 

16 



and other lands, it was in America that full liberty of con- 
science first became recognized as an essential principle in a 
democratic state. In spite of its slow growth in some of the 
colonies, it received its fullest expression in the constitu- 
tions of the several states and in that of the Federal gov- 
ernment. It was in this land of the free that religion be- 
came purified of its old time animosities and imbued with a 
higher altruistic spirit. It was here that the religious rights 
and duties of men were freed from political control, and the 
spirit of human brotherhood was made more sacred. The 
principle of religious freedom is thus a choice inheritance 
which we have received from our fathers and we should 
guard it as one of the ideals of our American life. We 
should, therefore, respect a man's right to his own con- 
scientious beliefs as we respect his right to his own person 
and property. While we approve of every rational appeal 
to the religious motives of men, we should frown upon every 
form of religious intolerance. We should condemn every 
effort to mix the affairs of the state with the affairs of any 
church. In the eyes of a democratic state, every religion 
and every creed — that of the Jew and the Gentile, the Prot- 
estant and the Catholic, the conformist and the nonconform- 
ist — stand upon a plane of perfect equality, and should exist 
side by side as fraternal allies and not as hostile foes. And 
so every attempt to incite an antagonism of religious sects 
for political purposes should be branded, as an encroach- 
ment upon our free institutions. 

Another important contribution of the American people 
to the political progress of the world, which should not be 
forgotten but which I have scarcely time to notice, is the 
idea of a written constitution. Previous to the year 1776 
a written constitution in the proper sense of that term, as 
a supreme national law, expressed in a single document, 
defining the form and the functions of government, and 

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guaranteeing the liberty of the subject against government- 
al encroachment, did not exist. Previous to that year the 
forms of national government were everywhere based upon 
traditional customs; and the rights of the subject, so far as 
these rights were protected at all, were guaranteed only by 
fragmentary statutes or unwritten precedents. It was the 
American Revolution that gave birth to the written constitu- 
tions of the American states — the germs of which already 
existed in the charters of the American colonies, and the full 
development of which was reached in the Federal Constitu- 
tion of the American Republic. This idea of a written con- 
stitution, as the basis of government and the guarantee of 
liberty, has now been accepted by nearly all the countries 
of Europe, and is even being adopted by the reviving nations 
of the Orient. The advantage of a written constitution 
consists in the fact that it gives a certain stability to political 
institutions, by presenting a barrier against the exercise of 
arbitrary power. It also renders more definite and secure 
the political and civil rights of the citizen, by furnishing an 
ultimate basis for judicial decisions. It furthermore tends 
to foster the sense of democratic equality, by establishing a 
law which binds alike the humblest subject who toils in the 
workshop and the highest magistrate who presides at the 
head of the nation. The American constitution has perhaps 
done more than anything else to develop in the American 
mind a high respect for law, and a patriotic devotion to 
American institutions. Unrestrained liberty and a disregard 
for law are the harbingers of anarchy, and have no place in 
the American system. The spirit of lawlessness, in what- 
ever form it may present itself, should therefore meet with 
the condemnation of every true American. It is only by 
limiting and equalizing liberty by maintaining the principles 
of justice under the supreme authority of a constitutional 
law, that the American idea of government can be fully 
realized. 

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My time and your patience are already exhausted, and 
I can detain you only for a moment to mention what I regard 
as one of the highest and most important contributions of 
America to modern statesmanship — a contribution which has 
already been utilized by other countries and may in the 
future prove an inestimable benefit to the world at large — 
I mean the idea of federalism. The gradual development of 
a true federal state is one of the most distinctive features 
of our political history. There are two general methods in 
which a large state may be developed from smaller states — 
the one is by conquest, the other by federation. In the one 
method, we see a competitive struggle between states for 
supremacy, which results in the victory of one and the sub- 
jection of others. In the other method, we see the recogni- 
tion of equal rights among states, and their voluntary union 
into a larger political society, in which the interests of one 
are regarded as the interests of all. Conquest is the result 
of what might be called an exaggerated form of political 
egoism. Federation is the outgrowth of an exalted phase 
of political altruism ; it is, in fact, the principle of democracy 
applied to a group of states. All the great states of an- 
tiquity — Assyria, Persia, the Empire of Alexander, and the 
Roman Empire, — and until recently all the great states of 
mediaeval and modern Europe, — the empire of Charle- 
magne, the old German Empire, Spain, France, Great 
Britain, and Russia, — all obtained their preeminent position 
through conquest, or the struggle for supremacy. The 
American Republic is the first great nation in the world's 
history to develop a wide territorial dominion by the adop- 
tion of the federative principle. It is here that we see the 
first successful and permanent union of free and independent 
states, upon the basis of political equality, and under a 
common sovereignty in which all have an equitable share. 
The maintenance of the common authority of the nation in 

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all those matters which concern the common interests of the 
nation, and the protection of the authority of every state in 
all those matters which concern itself alone, — this is the ideal 
of American federalism. To understand fully and to uphold 
faithfully the essential features of this political system 
should be the duty and the ideal of every patriotic citizen. 
But if the American citizen appreciates, in its largest 
sense, the altruistic conception of life, he will realize that his 
duties and his interests are not limited by the boundaries of 
his own country, — but extend to all mankind. The ideals 
of America are fast becoming the ideals of the world. 
Democracy has already become the basis of nearly every 
civilized state. Religious freedom has triumphed in coun- 
tries which were once stained with the blood of martyrs ; 
and the country which still persists in religious persecution 
is stigmatized by the conscience of mankind as barbarous 
and brutal. Written constitutions have been accepted by 
nearly every people as the only means to secure political 
liberty and civil rights. And the idea of federalism is now 
looked upon by philanthropists and statesmen as the only 
rational and permanent substitute for war, by which the com- 
petitive struggle between the nations may be superseded by 
a cooperative effort to establish by peaceful means the uni- 
versal reign of justice. It is on this account that the Ameri- 
can is, in a certain sense, a participant in the progress of the 
world. And it is for the reasons which have been mentioned 
that I believe that American education should be based upon 
that high conception of life whereby a man in becoming a 
citizen may realize that he is living not only for his own 
sake, but for the sake of his country and for the sake of 
mankind. 



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